It has been a while since I last posted a blog. I have noticed that writing is like exercising: if you don’t get the chance to do it, you feel yucky. My problem has been making the time to write. Anyone have any ideas?

After our vacation, our three boys began their soccer, (forgive me worldly readers) futbol seasons. We had a seven-year-old playing recreation, a ten-year-old playing on his team and guest playing on the next age up, and the team of the twelve-year-old plays in games in two leagues. I should have written while at the fields, but some of those games were played in freezing temperatures.

Plus, in the middle of all of this soccer, an animal bites my twelve-year-old. No, the shark from Hawai’i did follow us to Ohio. That would have been an interesting story.

Brindle Akita dogs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A ninety-pound (41 kg) Akita decided to taste my seventy-pound (32 kg) son’s right arm. (Never buy bacon flavored body spray.) The Akita won the first battle, but lost the war when my son’s friend kicked his dog in the head.

The bite was bloody enough for them to call 911. The paramedics bandaged Andy and drove my wife and him to the hospital. I was on the other side of town … at a soccer game. When I arrived at the hospital, I asked Andy how he was doing. He looked scared. I took a look at the bite and told him in my best black knight voice, “It’s only a flesh wound. You’ve had worse,” which is true. This is the same son who tried to learn about velocity and mass with a slingshot and golf ball. I am still waiting to see when he will put his two missing front teeth to use and play hockey.

Andy is fine now. The bite did get infected and we spent some time in the hospital and we were worried. I am proud of the way Andy has handled the healing process. At school, he played basketball with only his left hand. The day the doctor took the stitches out he played in a soccer game. He is one tough kid.

In fact, now that I think about it, Andy is always willing to take risks and try experiments. Like right now. He is over the neighbors’ helping cut down a dead tree with a chain saw. You would think I would remember Han Solo’s words, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”